Electrical bond for railways.



F. W. WALKER.

, ELECTRICAL BOND FOR RMLWAYS.

, APPUCATlON FILED NOV. 2,1914r Patented June 19, 1917.

STATES rnrnngr v013131015. l v rmmcx w. wALKEIeoF mlnwnunnnwlsoonem- I i r whom it may concern;

Beit known that I, Fnsonmcx W.

' Witnxnmu citizenof the United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invent ed certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Bonds for Railways, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being hadto the accompanying drawing, forming :1. art thereof,

he main oh'ects of this invention are to facilitate eleetrlcally bonding railway rails; to so construct the bonds and attach them to the rails as to prevent urauthorized or accidental removal or detachment thereof; to utilize the cheaper metals such as iron or steel, in the construction of the bonds; to directly connect adjoining rails independently of the splice bars 'in such a Way as to permit of removing and replacing the splice bars without disturbing the bonds; and gen orally to improve the construction and in crease the efficiency of bonds of this class.

It consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of parts as hereinafter particularly described and pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawing like charactors designate th'efisame parts in both figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a rail joint and bond embodyin the invention; Fig, 2 is an enlarger cross section of the same on the line 2--2, Fig.1.

Referring to the drawing, a desi ates portions of two railway rails, laid an con" nected in the usual manner end to end Joy splice bars I), which are clamped to opposite sides of the rail webs b bolts 0, and form a sli or expansion joint tween the rails, the b0 t holes in the splice bars being elongated as indicated in Fig. 1,,to allow for expansion and contraction of the rails.

The rails are electrically bonded or connected adjacent to their ends by a coimector d, whichmaybe constructed of any suitable metal, but preferably of some of the baser and cheaper metals, such as iron or steel, and 1s of any suitable shape and size in cross section, to aiford the requisite current carrying capacity and to provide for its com venient attachment to the rail beads by metal fillers or binders e, which are fused by electricity, ages torch, or other means, to the opposingfaces .oi the rail heads and Sp ifica n 0! l r Patent. Patented June 19, 1917. Application filed November 2,1314. Seriallfo. 868,727.

connector, thereby forming strong, durable attachments of the requisite current carry mg capacity. 7

' The connector, which in the present in stance is of quadrangular cross section and of uniform shape from end to end, is formed with straight alined ends parallel with the rail heads and between its ends, with. one or more expansion loops f, which extend ob lnuely downward and outward on the outer s1 e of the rails over the outer splice bar b,

the loop or loops being so shaped and posed as to be out of alinement with the bolt holes in the splice ham and rails, and thus permit the insertion of the bolts into place in the splice bars and rails, and their with drawal therefrom withoutdisturbing the are placed with such faces on o ,posite sides vof the joint between the rails oh iquely or at a vertical angle to the-adjacent side of the rail. heads, forming therewith ll-shaped or "upwardly flaring recesses which areopen at the ends and unobstructed throughout their length, as shown'in Figs. 1 and Q, the fillers or binders a being eutogenously welded or fused to and uniting the opposing faces of the rail heads and connector.

The connectors as shown are easil and cheat ly rolledor formed and are easi y applie to the rails, the straight plain faced ends of the connectors being adjustable to any desired inclination or angle to the rails to form more or less flaring or open recesses for the reception of the fillers or hinders and the most advantageous fusion thereof to the opposing faces of the rails and connectors by electric or blowpipe welding or autogenous soldering.

The fillers or hinders may be made of any suitable metal, such as copper, steel or iron, on alloys oidifferent metals, alloys of steel or iron and alloys of copper having been used with good results.

The bolts Z1 and the splice bars can be readily removed and replaced without de taching or disturbing the connector, the outer splice bar when the bolts are removed,

being withdrawn or replaced either lengthwise orvlaterally through the space between the conhector and rails.

Various modifications in the construction and arrangement of parts may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the following claim.

.I claim:

In an electrical bond for railwa s the combination of rails laid end to en and connected by a splice bar bolted thereto, of a metal',=connector formed .with an expansion loop and on opposite sides thereof with ends parallel with the rails and having faces forming with the rail heads upwardly flar- I ing recesses, and metal binders inserted said recesses and fused to and uniting the nector, the expansion loop extending obliquely to the rails downward and outward over the splice bar and out of alinement with the bolt holes in the rails, and the splice bar being, removable and replaceable without disturbing the connector or its attachments. In witness whereof 1 hereto afiix my sig nature in presence of two witnesses. e FREDERICK W. WALKER. 'W'itnesses:

CHAS. L. Goss, ALICE E. Goss.

. opposing'faces of the rail heads and con- 

